FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers Daniel Hallinan and Youneng Tang are studying PFSA polymer membranes, commonly used as filters in fuel cells. The team investigated how boiling these membranes — a common pre-treatment that helps them absorb more water and thus transport ions faster — could affect their performance in other applications, such as flow batteries and lithium extraction.

The team measured permeability, water uptake, salt partitioning, and conductivity, traits that determine how quickly salts and ions pass through PFSA membranes versus conventional materials. The team showed how pretreatment leads to tradeoffs: “If you want speed, pretreatment is helpful. If you want precision, pretreatment might hurt performance,” says Tang. “Understanding how this process works will help engineers optimize membrane selection and pretreatment for specific applications.”

• Daniel Hallinan Jr.
• Youneng Tang